Believe it or not, the choice between taking life or
creating life is one that is very unclear to parents. In a poll on parent-oriented
gaming site What They Play, respondents were
asked to pick from a choice of four what
they found the most offensive in a video game.

The four choices offered were: a graphically severed human
head; a man and a woman having sex; multiple use of the F-word; or two men
kissing.

Perhaps as a strange demonstration of social values, those
who voted in the poll reported that sexual matters of any sort were more offensive
than explicit violence or profanity. The leading pick as the most offensive act
in video game was “a man and woman having sex” at 37 percent. Off second place
with 27 percent was “two men kissing.”

Next in second last place with 26 percent was the
anti-violence answer of “a graphically severed human head.” In a distant fourth
was “multiple use of the F-word.”

Informed parents are the best defence against exposure of
inappropriate material to children, though it appears that many are more
concerned about sexual matters than graphic violence.

Susan Arendt of Game|Life
shared the story of an encounter she once had in a game store: “A woman was
trying to buy her 12-year old daughter some games for Christmas, and
overhearing me talking about games, asked me for advice. She picked up one of
the Resident Evils and asked me if it was any good. I told her that it was an
excellent game, but quite violent and scary. ‘Oh, that's no problem,’ she
replied. ‘But there's no, you know, people having relations in it, is
there?’